WDW Visit without the parks

[GroovyTeach]

We are thinking of staying at WDW for a week and not visiting the parks.....has anyone tried this? I think it would be so hard to not go into the parks. If you have done this...what are some of the activities did you enjoy doing? What DVC resort would you recommend for this kind of trip?

THANKS!

[DisneyPrincess21]

We are thinking of staying at WDW for a week and not visiting the parks.....has anyone tried this? I think it would be so hard to not go into the parks. If you have done this...what are some of the activities did you enjoy doing? What DVC resort would you recommend for this kind of trip?

THANKS!

:rub::jaw::huh::scratch::shrug:The very idea of being THAT CLOSE to the Magic and not visiting the parks makes me want to :scared::faint::sob:

[johnO]

I think this is something I could totally do.
I could see resort hopping, checking out the grounds, restaurants, shops, and unique things to do at the individual resorts. WL has trails etc., renting a boat at OKW or Bay Lake and traveling the waterways of WDW, hang out on the beach at the Poly and maybe take in the Luau. I could personally plan my day around eating at various Resorts. :cool:

Hang out at DTD or The Boardwalk. Take a ride on the boat "Breathless II" at the Yacht Club. Miniture Golf. There is a ton of stuff, hidden secrets or treasures, beyond the parks.

I believe I've actually convinced myself that it would be great.

[Seasonscraps]

We did that for a few days in the beginning of the summer. It was fun and definitely more relaxing then running around in the parks all day. Here's my Trip Report (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=156013).

[dizneefan67]

This sounds like a good idea, but could you actually NOT go to ANY of the parks or other regular guest venue? LOL!
Just kidding! I would suggest if you are TRUE Disney fans, maybe research and see if you can find a tour of sorts that would definitiely show you all the areas that are NOT developed or overlooked bythe genera public, or TRULY seeing the backstage EXTREME of WDW!
If you are as fascinated with Disney as I am, you might find this intriguing at least. Maybe to see the perimeter of the land that Uncle Walt bought and to see the land that HAS TO BE left in its natural state, I read there is a 7,500 acre natural wildlife perserve out of the 27,000 acres he bought somewhere on property! That may be interesting to ride through to see what the land USE TO look like before Disney!
It's hard to imagine Orlando as being a sleepy farming community compared to today! I would love to see pictures of Orlando then and now!

Have a great trip and I am sure you will figure out things to do without going to the parks!

Will :mickey:

[RAIDER]

I think this is something I could totally do.
I could see resort hopping, checking out the grounds, restaurants, shops, and unique things to do at the individual resorts. WL has trails etc., renting a boat at OKW or Bay Lake and traveling the waterways of WDW, hang out on the beach at the Poly and maybe take in the Luau. I could personally plan my day around eating at various Resorts. :cool:

Hang out at DTD or The Boardwalk. Take a ride on the boat "Breathless II" at the Yacht Club. Miniture Golf. There is a ton of stuff, hidden secrets or treasures, beyond the parks.

I believe I've actually convinced myself that it would be great.

Brilliant ... I too could this sort of vacation as theres so much to see and do in orlando :thumbsup:

[brownie]

A day or two I could handle, but I don't know about a whole week! Good luck!

[jakeybake]

We kind of did the same thing during our last trip. Emphasis on "kind of".

My inlaws bought a time share in Orlando (actually Davenport) and we all took a trip down in April. Because we were staying off site for the first time ever we decided to do a Universal Studios trip (which by the way was super cheap compared to WDW ticket prices) and just eat breakfast and/or dinner at the WDW resorts.

It actually worked out pretty well. We would eat breakfast each day at Cape May (our favorite place to eat in all of WDW) and then eat dinner at other WDW resort establishments (Cape May, ESPN, Spoodles, 1900 Park Fare etc.) Then after dinner we would go hang out at the Boardwalk or walk around the resorts.

I have to say that though it was certainly something we could do, we did find it difficult to not spend any time at the WDW parks. It was hardest when we would walk around the Beach Club/Boardwalk area and hear the music from the International Gateway playing and then see the fireworks later from Illuminations. Man was it hard to not try and crash the gates to get in :)

Also, I must admit that we did cheat a little. We spent 3 days at Typhoon Lagoon during the trip when we found out that Del Boca Vista (my name for the time share) had a pretty lame pool area.

Would we do it again? I guess if we had to but it wouldn't be our first plan of choice and it wouldn't be for quite a while if we did.

Jay

[tink2006]

We did this in July (kinda) for a week. It was just the three of us - DH, DS16 and myself. DH and DS played golf several days. I lounged by the pool, went to DTD and hotel hopped. Our original plans were to go to Epcot only for one day. I did not know if I could be so close and stay away from the parks - especially MK. Well, we ended up going to Epcot/DHS one day and the MK another day.

It was a totally different type of Disney vacation - very relaxing. I highly recommend it. Other than tee times, nothing was planned. We originally were only going to stay 5 nights. Well, we were just not ready to leave. We were by the pool that last afternoon and decided to add one more night.


Like you, I was a little hesitant to try this but it turned out GREAT. I would do it again. In fact, I think this will be the way to go for us on future trips. It was nice to have a little of both - the parks and all the other things Disney has to offer.

[sorcerer fan]

try the backstage magic tour. you don't need a ticket to get into a park and you get to see backstage at three of them. and get a meal to boot. it's 7 hours long and they cart you between the parks. I know it's still going to the parks , but you can only do what the tour does. should drive you crazy.

[GroovyTeach]

Thanks everyone! Any more tips would be appreciated. Just trying to save some cash this coming summer and we were just there, too!

[PetefromRI]

We are (kinda)doing a mini Disney trip.4 nights at CBR with free dining plan.I had to get a one day base pass for the DDP and we have a one day base pass from another trip a few years ago.We'll use one pass for Epcot when we go to dinner at Tuttu Italia and we figured that we'd go to the MK one night after dinner at Kona Cafe.Other than that our days will be by the pool and DTD on some nights.17 days to go!

[epceddie]

My wife ad I are DVC members and we love to take advantage of the pool hopping perk whenever we can.
Our home resort is Old Key West. We love the laid-back atmosphere and the rooms are the biggest at WDW.
It's always fun to take the boat ride from OKW to Downtown Disney, because you go right past the new Treehouses.

[ransam]

the resort is so huge...it be fun to spend time just exploring things you dont' see cause of all the time you spend at the park. explore the different resorts, downtown disney, play golf, swim...etc....

[ToraTory]

We did this in February. We came down to help our daughter move. I was surprised how much stuff there is to do. We went to Kennedy Space Center which was a hoot and my favorite part was a trip to Gaterland. I hadn't done either since I was a kid and we had a blast. For Disney stuff I shopped at down-town disney, the hotel gift shop and believe it or not walmart! We did miss the parks some but we found plenty to do.

[Mousemates]

We've done it for short stays, but never for a week long trip (thou on several of our trips we have only spent a couple of days in theme parks and maybe a day in the water parks). By the way someof those trips have been among the most relaxing we have had. A tip thou...if your not going to visit the parks, then you might want to consider a resort where either:

1. You have lots of recreational options (such as the cabins at fort wilderness lodge)

or

2. Where the resort itself creates a sense of disney magic and has enough charm to enjoy being there throughout the day...say at the Animal Kingdom or Wilderness Lodge.

To me I'd also avoid a stay at resorts where you would be constantly reminded of how close you are to the Magic Kingdom...a view room at any of the monorail resorts would likely eventually wear down your resolve and have you walking down mainstreet to the castle. :)

[Mousemates]

My inlaws bought a time share in Orlando (actually Davenport) and we all took a trip down in April. Because we were staying off site for the first time ever we decided to do a Universal Studios trip (which by the way was super cheap compared to WDW ticket prices) and just eat breakfast and/or dinner at the WDW resorts.

:confused: would that be the same time share spoken of in the infamous and very contentious " Ugggh!! In-Laws bought Time Share but not DVC!" thread from a year or two back? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

[Pirate Granny]

OK...don't start that up again...and If I wasn't going to the Parks I think I would stay either in the Treehouses or the BC...BC 'cause I could stay by that pool all day (just couldn't justify the price of the room)...or Treehouse as you are really away and can grab dinner at any of the resorts and just enjoy the peace and quiet...oh....I forgot...the hammocks at either the GF or the CBR...those are worth a couple of days just laying around.
:pirate:

[darthmacho]

Being a part of the DVC gives you the opportunity to visit WDW more often, so you have the luxury of doing things at your leisure instead of packing in as much action each trip for fear you may never get back again like I do. I envy you quite a bit.

We haven't been since 2003, so now the pressure is on to do it all if we go in 2010. Talk about pressure! In any case, my point is that I admire your goal of really enjoying the resort, and I can totally envision myself doing the same thing in your shoes. I haven't read all the replies so forgive me if I rehash other's ideas.

You simply must explore your home resort to it's last detail. Why not choose WL Villas? That is a great place to explore and you'll have boat access to Poly (you could take in the Luau), the Contemporary (Chef Mickey's, etc) Fort Wilderness (Hoop Dee Doo) if you wanted to add an activity. Of course some of those cost money too, so I'm not sure what you'd save.

Have fun! :mickey:

[jonahbear2006]

beach club villas....since you cant hop to stormalong bay..then plan on checking out the different pools, relaxing in the room with a few movies, see the boardwalk, downtown disney, mini golfing, and consider maybe parasailing or going to a spa. there are soooo many things you can do on property that are not inside of the parks. we have talked about doing this. our friend has done this, as she has grown up as a dvc member and sometimes they didnt have money for dining plan or tickets so they would just go for the resort.

[Ian]

We considered doing this over Christmas week (since it's so busy), but ultimately decided that with small kids it just wasn't realistic.

I could totally see myself doing this, though. I could just lounge by the pool, sip some cocktails, sleep, eat, and hit the nightlife for a week no problem!

[mousetrapper]

I just know I couldn't stand it if I was that close but didn't go to any of the parks. It would feel like a weird dream/nightmare where something I wanted more than anything was within my grasp but I couldn't reach it. I just don't have the willpower to resist the magic!

:mickey: